Recuperator tile structure



4NOV. 13, 1951 FQH, GRAHAM ETAL 2,574,738

RECUPERATOR TILE STRUCTURE Filed Feb. 2e, i949 y2 Z6 Z ,////f' l @9 5 ofPatented Nov. 13, 1951 RECUPERATOR TILE STRUCTURE Frank H. Graham,Edgewood, and Edwin G. Smith, Mount Lebanon, Pa., assignors to AmslerMorton Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of DelawareApplication February 26, 1949, Serial No. 78,644

i Claims. l

This invention relates generally to industrial heat exchangers known asrecuperators and more particularly to recuperator tile structuresconsisting of cast or moulded parts made of rei, fr actory clay andsimilar materials which are assembled and cemented together with airsetting cement to form a monolithic structure providing'a plurality ofvertical iiues extending through spaced horizontal partitions that formindependent horizontal passes around the vertical' iiues. Such heatexchanger tile structures are built inside an insulated six walledrebrick hot gases to ow down through the vertical iiues,

and to introduce the air or gases to be heated at the bottom of thestructure causing them to iiow upward through the several horizontalpasses progressively toward the top of the structure.-

When operating recuperators in connection with certain types of steelmill heating furnaces, it has been found that the hot waste gases fromthe furnacesometimes carry with them certain finely divided dusts, partsof which are deposited on the ilat surface of the top sealing course ofthe recuperator structure between the openings of the vertical ues wherethis dust forms a crustation that builds up and eventually overhangs andclogs the top openings of the vertical flues. These accumulations adheretightly to the tile and cannot be removed without breaking or otherwisedamaging the whole of the recuperator tile structure.

permit easy removal of fused dust and foreign matter accumulated abovethe sealing course of the recuperator structure without endangering ordisturbing the recuperator structure. This is accomplished by laying anuncemented course of tile blocks and tube flues on the top sealing'course ofthe recuperator tile structure without attaching it thereto.The tube tile projects above the tile blocks and are unsupported attheir upper ends, thus forming a reservoir therebetween for theaccumulation of fused dust. When this reservoir becomes filled theentire course of blocks and tubes with the accumulation can readily beremoved and replaced.

Another object is the provision of a separable and independent courseabove the monolithic recuperative tile` structure that is thermallyinsulated from said tile structure and shields it from thermal shock'.

Another object of this invention is to make it possible to remove andreplace a selected number of upper horizontal courses of recuperatortile without disturbing or damaging those horizontal courses therebelow.This is accomplished by introducing a separate course of uncemented tubetile blocks at any selected position to permit the removal of theselected separate course and all of `the tile Astructure thereabovewithout disturbing or otherwise replacing the tile structure therebelow.The practice of this invention also permits the repair of a recuperatortile structure by smoothing off the upper surface of a selectedhorizontal course below the tile found to be fractured and rebuildingthereon by starting with an additional horizontal course withoutattaching it thereto.

Other objects and advantages appear hereinafter in the followingdescription and claims.

The accompanying drawing shows, for the purpose of exemplificationwithout limiting the invention or the claims thereto, certain practicalembodiments of the invention wherein:

Fig. l is a view in vertical section of the recuperator tile structureassembled in a refractory chamber and embodying the principles of thisinvention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the flue block which isemployed in the horizontal course of the recuperator tilestructure;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a center filling blockemployed in the horizontal course of the recuperator tile structure;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of an edge filling block employedin the horizontal course of the recuperator tile structure;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a corner filling blockemployed in the horizontal course of the recuperator tile structure; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged view in vertical section of an extra horizontalcourse with upstanding. tubular ues mounted on a horizontal course ofthe recuperator tile structure and the parts broken away.

Referring to the drawings, each of the tile members making up therecuperator tile struc 3 ture is made of a refractory material capableof withstanding the waste gas heat and a high degrec of thermal shock.'I'his recuperator tile structure is assembled within the recuperatorrefractory chamber I closed by the refractory heat insulating walls 2and l' in the arch roof 4 which contains the passage through which thewaste gases are drawn from the furnace chamber.

The bottom of the recuperator chamber I is provided with a bridge wall idesigned to support the recuperator tile structure within the chamber Iand which is provided with a plurality of openings 1 that are alignedwith the vertical nues of the recuperator structure for the purpose ofconducting the waste gases from the recuperator through the passage I toadditional heat exchangers or to the stack as the case may be.

The horizontal courses of the recuperator tile l structure are made upof a plurality of four different characters of tile members similar tothose shown in United States letters Patent No. 2,092,402. 'Ihe flueblocks Il as shown in Fig. 2, the center blocks Il as shown in Fig. 3,the edge blocks .I2 as shown in Fig. 4 and the comer blocks Il as shownin Fig. 5 are all preformed tile blocks capable of withstandingconsiderable heat.

The ilue blocks I2 are octagonal in shape and are provided with an upperrecess Il and a lower recess I5 between which is an inwardly extendingange member I6 that deilnes the opening therethrough. The outer surfaceof the block is recessed on each of the eight sides, as indicated at I1to receive a complementary flange of the other blocks adjacent theretoor cement which interlocks it with adjacent iiue blocks.

Each of the other three blocks, that is.. the center block II,vthe edgeblocks I2, and the corner block Il. is provided with projecting flangesIl that follow the contour of their respective block members and arearranged to nt in the grooves I1 of the flue blocks Il.

Upon constructing the recuperator tile in the refractory chamber I.which is ordinarily square or rectangular in cross section, the cornerblocks Il are placed is their respective corners and the i'lue blocksI0. together with the center blocks II and the edge blocks I2, areinterlocked and cemented together to complete in a uniform pattern thehorizontal course 20 on the door i at the bottom of the recuperatorchamber, with the openings oi' each flue block being aligned with theopenings 1 in the door l. Thus, each piece is interengaged with itsadjacent piece to complete the horizontal course and the blocks arecemented together but lnot to the refractory chamber I as the refractorytile of the recuperator must be able to expand and contract within therefractory chamber I. After the first horizontal course is completed thetubular ilue members 2| are cemented in their respective sockets I4 ineach of the iiue blocks I0. It will be noted that the tubular ilues 2lare of suilicient height to receive the whole of the ilow of air or amixture of air and gas from the inlet pipe or pipes 22 that enter thewall 2 at the bottom of the recuperator.

The second and other additional horizontal courses 28, .24 and 25 arethen laid in turn on each of the series of vertically disposed tubular jilues until the horizontal course 2t is reached, at

which time an extra horizontal course 21 may be inserted wherein eachtile block member is merely .placed on top of the corresponding tile 4without cementing the upper course 21 lower course 2l. The recuperatortile structure is then continued upwardly adding the horizontal courses20. 30 and 2i to complete the recuperator tile structure within therefractory chamber I, which is capped by the course of seal tile blockshaving openings that are aligned with the iiue tile structures as shownat 2l. The course 2l is also provided with the annular sand seal I2 thatextends into the recuperator wall.

At the top of the tile structure an additional or extra horizontalcourse It is added by placing the same on top of the horizontal sealcourse 2l of the series without cementing it thereto. An additional setof tubes is cemented in the respective sockets of the nue blocks in thehorizontal course The tubes as shown at ll extend upwardly within thechamber I. They are usually shorter than the tubes 2I but notnecessarily so.

Selected center blocks II in the intermediate horizontal courses of theseries are removed. as indicated at 34, for the purpose of providingpassage for the air orgas to be heated in traversing back and forththrough the horizontal passes of the recuperator tile structure fromthe. bottom to the top thereof where it is discharged through thepassage Il and thence conducted to the furnace chamber.

A greater portion of the material, which may be carried through thepassage l into the refractory chamber I, will fall to the side of thetubes l! and collect until it builds upl to the .topz of these tubes andtends to choke or close of! the bores of these tubes, at which timeit'vwill ybe necessary to enter the top of the recuperator and removethis material together with the whole course consisting of the blocks'land the tubes 32 without disturbing or otherwise destroying thehorizontal courses 2l and Il. New parts for the extra upper coursetogether with the tubes I2. may then be installed and the recuperatorreestablished in service without further delay.

It is also evident that in the selected horizontal courses of therecuperator structure above an uncemented Joint such as between courses2l and 21 can be removed and replaced without disturbing the structurebelow such a joint.

The sue blocks le' that are to be used as me top or bottom course of Vasection or the masking course I3 need only one recess I4 as illustratedin Fig. 6.

While. for clarity of explanation, certain preferred embodiments of thisinvention have been shown and described it is to be understood that thisinvention is capable of many modifications, and changes in theconstruction and arrangement may be made therein and that certain partsmay be employed without conjoint use of other parts and withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of this invention.

We claim:

l. A refractory tile recuperator structure assembled in a refractorylined chamber. consisting of a sexies of vertically spaced horizontaltile courses each of which is made up of a series of iiat interengagedquadrilaterally disposed flue blocks, with filling blocks includingcenter blocks.

edge blocks land corner lling blocks cemented together with -the flueblocks in vertical alignment. vertically disposed tubular fluesconnecting subjacent ilue blocks and cemented to provide independenthorizontal passes and vertical flues, filling blocks at selected ends ofeach horizontal block member of the horizontal course 28 but 75 coursebeing omitted to connect the horizontal touw.

passes forming a zigzag path from the bottom of the recuperator to thetop, and a separate and additional duplicate horizontal tile coursehaving upwardly extending tubular ues above the at tile ot the courseand cemented thereto, said separate and additional course mounteddirectly on and coordinated with one of the horizontal courses of theseries without being cemented thereto for permitting the removal of saidseparate and additional course and the tile structure thereabove withoutdisturbing the tile structure therebelow.

2. The structure of claim 1 characterized in that said separate andadditional horizontal course is mounted on the uppermost horizontalcourse of the sexies and the tubular iiues thereon project upwardlyabove said separate and additional course and are supported only attheir lower ends.

3. The structure of claim 1 characterized in that said separate andadditional horizontal course is mounted on the uppermost horizontalcourse of the series and the tubular ues thereon project upwardly toabove said separate and additional course but to a less extent than theflue separating the courses ot the series.

4. The structure of claim 1 characterized'in that said separate andadditional horizontal course is mounted on an intermediate horizontalFenske Oct. 4. 1938

